Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Seventy-Eight, Part II and Letter Seventy-Nine

It is a bitter sweet thing to come to the end of such a long journey - a long and sometimes arduous journey but one that has brought such joy and hope. Tonight we finished the final two letters of Saint Theophan to Anastasia. 

They are perhaps the two finest letters of the collection. Saint Theophan speaks with a great directness and honesty about the anxieties that Anastasia experiences and how she has to deal with him. He sees how clearly they can be temptations from the Evil One to pull her away from God, from trusting Him, and from the practice of prayer. It was with great gentleness and tenderness that he guided her through this in order that Anastasia might understand that if she but makes an irrevocable gift of herself to God she will be ever under His protection. She need have fear of nothing and no one. 

In the final letter (80) he speaks to her about the extraordinary grace she has received through having endured the storm. Satan sought to sift her like wheat. Yet God used all of this to perfect her faith and to teach her. The Enemy through his tricks sought to create hurry and to alarm her and confuse matters. Yet Anastasia has learned that Godly things are peaceful and quiet. She must only wait. Everything comes in its own time. 

In the years to come, Theophan tells her, she must gravitate towards solitude; not necessarily the solitude of the desert but of her heart. There she must wait for God and allow herself to be nourished upon His love. Indeed, there is nothing more beautiful.

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Text of chat during the group:

00:15:51 Andreea Gallagher: Where are we?   00:16:21 Carol Nypaver: 302   00:17:02 Andreea and Anthony: Thanks!   00:17:15 Carol Nypaver: 😇   00:40:31 Barb Heyrman: Considering how related religious experience is to psychological experience it is interesting that at one time they were separated by design   00:53:16 Barb Heyrman: Also points to the problem of comparing ourselves & our circumstances with the situations of another — maybe the ‘recipie’ God is using w/ us & the oven temp & baking time is different   01:00:26 Barb Heyrman: I hear this all the time…the identity as the syndrome … anxiety/ADHD / ‘this is just who I am’   01:12:31 Ren: To join the email group for the Ladder, go to www.pghco.org/climacus-email   01:14:59 Wayne: if we are on the email list do we need to register again?   01:16:23 Wayne: gotta go goodnight   01:16:37 Ren: This particular email list is for you to receive the weekly email with the Zoom link, or information specifically about the group (cancellations, etc…). If you are subscribed to Philokalia Ministries then, yes, you will want to subscribe to this list as well.   01:17:45 Art: Gotta go too.  Good night,   01:19:15 Ren: Bumpkins   01:19:19 Ren: :-D   01:24:39 Rafael Patrignani: thank you! i have yo leave   01:26:18 Anne Barbosa: Thank you!   01:27:04 Eric Williams: There are 30 steps on the ladder, right? We might finish the book in about as many months. ;)   01:27:17 Mitchell Hunt: Thank you been a great study of Theophan   01:27:57 Carol Nypaver: Thank you!   01:28:35 Mitchell Hunt: Great sounds good